Fuel FixOne hundred and twenty-nine years after Everett Horton patented the telescopic fishing rod, and the recent oil rally is looking overextended. Let’s go on a wander through energyland, to assess nine factors influencing energy today. China’s export data was horrendous. February exports were down 25.4 percent YoY, which is the biggest drop since the belly of the great recession – May 2009. While the timing of the Lunar New Year last month can explain away some of the weakness, the poor data is indicative of broad-based soft export data seen in other countries in the region, such as Taiwan and South Korea. Taiwan has seen exports drop for 13 consecutive months, while South Korean exports have fallen for 14.READ MORE

OESPRegistration for the Eastern Energy Expo is open. There are a variety of options from which to choose. As an OESP member in good standing, you get a special discount on your choice of a Full Registration option or Technical. The Full Registration allows you to go to any of the 50 plus options – both management/owner focused and technical. Bringing others from the office? Of course you can add them to your registration as well.

If you are not a member of OESP, you are still welcome to register for the conference or for just the trade show. If you only want the trade show, then click no to the answers and you will be brought to the screen that will allow you to register you and your team.
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OESPCheck out the website for all classes, floor plan, sponsorships and more. You can find out about the Women in Energy Event. Read all about our line-up of classes and speakers. We have sponsorships for this event as well and we encourage your support.

The golf tournament too will be played on Monday, May 23 – this is the only fundraiser for a scholarship program. We encourage all to support this event through participation or sponsoring a hole or a major sponsorship. You will find all information here.READ MORE

Industry TodayA new market report by Transparency Market Research presents a comprehensive overview and an unbiased analysis of the global market for electrical power storage technologies for alternative energy sources. The research study offers an analysis of the market drivers, limitations, challenges, opportunities, and future prospects impacting the worldwide electrical power storage technologies market for alternative energy sources. It also highlights the effect of the latest trends on this market.READ MORE

Take PartSteph Speirs and Stephen Moilanen want to light up America with solar energy. Their company, Solstice Initiative, helps people get access to solar energy cheaply and efficiently. They bridge the gap between communities that need solar energy and the companies that provide it by harnessing the power of community. They talked to TakePart about their projects.READ MORE

U.S. Energy Information AdministrationNearly 18 gigawatts (GW) of electric generating capacity was retired in 2015, a relatively high amount compared with recent years. More than 80 percent of the retired capacity was conventional steam coal. The coal-fired generating units retired in 2015 tended to be older and smaller in capacity than the coal generation fleet that continues to operate.
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Contracting BusinessRecently, a thread began on NCI’s membership discussion list based on a question posed by a customer to an NCI-trained and certified Performance-Based HVAC Contractor.
As the contractor offered to test the customer’s system so he could propose the correct equipment installation, the customer asked, “What are you trying to sell me?”
As you can imagine, many posts ensued, each explaining what they would have said, with some saying that no matter what, some customers just won’t get it.READ MORE

The Daily CallerGasoline isn’t even the only way to use oil for fuel. In 2014, 21 percent of fuel oil was used as heating oils or diesel, and another 8 percent was used to create jet fuel, according to the Energy Information Administration. American oil production is skyrocketing due to the increased use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling. America imported about 60 percent of its oil in 2007, but by 2014, the U.S. only imported 27 percent of its oil — the lowest level since 1985, according to EIA.READ MORE

U.S. Department of EducationResearchers in the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics at Los Alamos National Laboratory are seeking to transform everyday windows into solar collectors by harnessing the unique properties of quantum dots. The advantages of solar power as a source of clean, renewable energy seem obvious. Sunlight is abundant, free and, for all practical purposes, eternal. While the price of solar photovoltaic cells recently has plummeted and their efficiency has gone up, challenges remain around siting vast arrays of solar-electric panels and finding ways to integrate them into buildings and other applications.READ MORE

The Daily SignalThe 2015 Small Business Credit Survey Report on Employer Firms, released by seven Federal Reserve Banks, contains disturbing news. Twenty-two percent of small businesses with annual revenues over $10 million identified compliance with government regulations as the biggest challenge they faced over the past 12 months. That’s up from only 4 percent in a similar but smaller survey last year.READ MORE

U.S. Energy Information AdministrationThese monthly production estimates are based on data from the EIA-914, Monthly Crude Oil, Lease Condensate, and Natural Gas Production Report. Beginning in January 2015, ten states were added to the EIA-914, bringing to 16 the number of states/areas with individual coverage, and crude oil production estimates were introduced. Estimates based on the EIA-914 are now provided for Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, and the Federal Gulf of Mexico. READ MORE